Museum Date with Gladio
by Pikes Pendragon
Summary: A self-indulgent piece that I wrote after a friend tagged me in a post saying Gladio would be a big History nerd. With me being a History major that likes Gladio, I knew I had to write something about this! Rated T for language


**_Beginning Commentary:_** This might seem out of character for Gladio, but I thought this was a good way to explore more into his character aside from him being either smut material, a walking cup noodle joke, or the stock jerk character. Hope you enjoy this self-indulgence!

* * *

 **Museum Date with Gladio**

* * *

"Wait, so you're telling me you're gonna go out with THE Shield-to-be, Gladiolus Amicitia!?" My friend Nat exclaimed.

"Y-yep, this Saturday," I responded rather sheepishly.

"HOW!?" A lot of my friends at the table seemed to shriek. Yikes, you tell your friends you've got a date and all of a sudden that's the only thing they care about.

"Right, so you know how I have that huge-ass research project due for my Historiography class next week?"

My friends said "Yeah" one by one.

"Well…"

* * *

 _ **Two weeks earlier…**_

* * *

Crap crap crap CRAP! How do I use the Dewey Decimal system again!? Uh, is it by author's last name?

I ventured down a few rows of books. Nothing.

Hang on, is it by title?

I ventured down that same row again. Nothing.

No wait, there was a bunch of numbers. Uh, let me check on my phone…

"Hey, uh, want some help there?"

Okay, first of all, that voice has no right to be that deep. Second, that voice has no right belonging to this handsome of a dude. Long, black hair, goatee on his chin, _tight_ gray shirt, black tattoos on his arms, and a scar over his left eye. Add all of that to the fact that he was a frickin' GIANT. Like, holy crap! I always thought I was of a relatively good height until I met him! Now I know how my friend Gina feels to be short!

"I-I, uh… I'm trying to find a book for my Historiography class but I don't know where to find it and I don't want to bother the librarian to help me find it so I tried remembering the Dewey Decimal but THAT didn't work since I haven't used that since the 3rd grade and-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. You're going fifty words a second," the stranger smiled while gesturing for me to calm down. "Do you at least know the title of the book you're looking for?"

I nodded and handed him the title I wrote down when I tried to find the book online.

"Okay, I know where this is. Just go to the back of the library, go down three sections, and it should be twelve books down on the right."

I blinked rapidly.

"…Or how about I help you actually find it."

"Oh, thank you," I sighed with relief.

"Not a problem. So you mentioned this was for Historiography?"

"Yeah, I'm a History major and this is supposed to be our 'boot camp', as my professor puts it. She calls it the history of history but I just feel like it's the 'how to write History papers because English classes only taught you grammar' class."

The kind stranger laughed at my remark.

"Yeah, I've had to deal with that myself for my History minor. So what's your argument on, then?"

…This guy, who could either be one of those cliché grocery store romance novel love interests or the worst force to deal with, was a History minor. Okay, I think I've seen everything now.

"Honestly, I have no idea at this point. I just know my subject's on religion in a certain time period and I'm supposed to come up with an argument after doing some research. It sounded cool when we read a book about it for class, but now I'm wishing I chose another subject."

"Ah, don't worry, you can come up with any old argument as long as you back up the facts. Like when I took the class, I argued about the importance of battle strategy."

"Your professor must have been pretty lenient, then, since mine would probably be on your ass for not being specific with a certain time period," I scoffed. "She said we had to be super anal about detail."

"So it really is boot camp, then."

"Eeyup."

The kind stranger stopped in the middle of his tracks and I accidentally stepped on the heel of his left shoe. I apologized briefly before he turned around and handed me my desired book.

"Oh, thank you so much!" I exclaimed as quietly as I could.

"No problem," he nodded. "Actually, do you plan on researching here? I can help you find other books you might need."

"Nah, I'm good on my other resources, thanks. Sadly, we're limited to 10 resources for this project and I already have a bunch of articles online that I can use."

"All right, no problem. But hey, since you're a History major, there's going to be a new event at the museums downtown in a couple of weeks. They're all going to have new exhibits that I think would be pretty neat for you to check out."

"Ooh, I haven't heard about that!"

…Gosh, now that I'm considering going into public history, I actually should become more interested in the museum scene.

"I'll ask one of my friends if they have the time to go with me! Thank you!"

"I'm actually free on the 23rd, so I can meet up with you then."

"Oh, you sure?"

"Yeah, I don't see why not."

He pulled out his phone and handed it to me so I could put in my contact information. I gave him my phone as well, and then we exchanged back.

"Great, I'll let you know what works for me, then!" I smiled. "Thanks again, uh-"

My eyes widened and my lips flattened when I looked at the name he entered in my phone.

 _Gladiolus Amicitia._

"All right, see ya then!" He waved.

I stuttered to myself then and there as he walked away. I silently shrieked a "HUH!?" to myself.

* * *

 _ **Present day…**_

* * *

"You didn't recognize it was him!?" My other friend Lynne balked.

"Man, he was wearing a shirt! How was I supposed to know it was him!?" I replied in a joking manner.

"I dunno, the big ass scar didn't ring a bell?!"

I shrugged, and Lynne groaned.

"Dude, you should really be careful about him," Gina spoke in a serious mothering tone, which made everyone go silent.

"…Look, I know he's the prince's bodyguard-" I began before Gina interrupted.

"He's a womanizer! Like, he's one of those 'go clubbing and pick up any chick' kinds of guys! He's probably doing this to try and sleep with you!"

…Is he? He definitely didn't seem like that at the library. Heck, a guy like that wouldn't even BE at the library.

Also, would I even warrant to be _that_ kind of girl? I'm a tomboy nerd with a slight overbite and curly hair that's a nightmare to deal with in the summer. If anything, I'm the "pwecious" kind of cute and not the "omg she's so attractive!" kind of cute.

"Yeah, isn't he also kind of a dick?" Nat questioned Gina. "I heard that he tends to beat up Crownsguard members when he's pissed off. And that he gets pissed off a _lot_."

That…is that true?

"Guys, I don't think that's-" I once again attempted to talk.

"Dude, call him right now and tell him to fuck off," Gina scolded. "He is NOT hurting my friend."

"…But I already gave him my number and he'd probably be wondering why I'd cancel."

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU GIVE HIM YOUR NUMBER?!"

"So he could text me when he was available for the museums?"

"He probably has a bunch of other girls' numbers in his contact list," Lynne tried to justify to Gina. "Good to be specific, y'know?"

"I will go with you and make sure he doesn't try anything," Gina spoke while she ignored Lynne. "You know I have my knives on me."

"I'm not three, you know," I scowled. "If he actually does try to do something, I can play the adorable wittle victim card."

"And your dad's a lawyer, can't forget that," Nat added. "Plus my dad's a cop so we can work something out."

"I think he has higher authority than the cops there, Nat," Gina deadpanned.

Well, great. This was going to eat at my nerves for weeks on end.

* * *

 _ **Saturday the 23**_ _ **rd**_ _ **, 1:00 PM**_

* * *

My mom kept trying to tell me I had to look cute for this date, and even tried giving me makeup tips when I don't wear the stuff to begin with. But because it was going to be freezing as all heck I decided to go with my usual cold weather attire: sweatshirt over a T-shirt over a long-sleeved shirt, jeans, socks with sneakers, and to top it off a red and black plaid hunting hat I bought two years ago. (My friend Nat was jealous because she was the bigger _Catcher in the Rye_ fan than I was). Somewhat similar to the outfit I wore when I first met Gladiolus, just a different shirt and different pair of jeans. Oh yes, and a backpack that I carried around because it had more space than a purse ever would.

There he stood, right at the art museum entrance scrolling through his phone. He wore a green jacket over a black shirt (not as tight as his gray one, thankfully), white pants that had a black bandanna tied across his right knee, and black boots.

…He's just standing out in the public like that? No baseball cap and sunglasses or anything?

He looked up and waved over to me, so I walked toward him as fast as I could while avoiding traffic.

"Nice hat," Gladiolus said. "You out looking for phonies?"

"Holy crap, you actually got the reference," I breathed with a smile. "My Mythology professor joked about it being a lumberjack hat."

"Probably the plaid."

"Eh, I couldn't find a plain one. Sue me."

"Anyway, I was thinking we could eat lunch here before we start looking at the art. Then we can head to the train museum that's a couple blocks down or the historical site."

"Sounds like a plan!"

We went inside, paid for our tickets, and then made way to the designated eating area to look over what to eat.

…He's probably going to get something like a burger or chicken tenders like my older brother would do when we were kids. There's no way he's into the classy food that's on this menu. Maybe the steak, but Foie gras? The hell's that?! …Okay, I know it's something with geese, BUT STILL!

"I'll have the grilled salmon with the pasta salad," Gladiolus told the waitress.

"Ooh, wonderful choice!" Our waitress exclaimed. "And you, miss?"

I didn't respond at first, but then snapped out of my "Wow, Gladio has some culture!" shock to give my order.

"Oh, uh, I'll have the grilled chicken and some fries on the side, please," I said nervously.

"Excellent!"

"So, what got you into History?" Gladiolus asked to start the conversation.

"Back in elementary school, we did these really cool field trips to historic landmarks and re-enactments of battles or expeditions," I began. "That was really awesome, and then after dealing with an okay teacher in the 6th grade and a really bad one in the 7th, I got back into liking it in the 8th grade onward.

"But yeah, anyway, at first I really liked learning about the battles and I liked to envision what was going on like it was a story. Then after sitting through General Ed nonsense when I got into college, my Historiography professor said there were different aspects of History people study. I'm going more for cultural history now so I can get away with being a nerd in the professional world."

"That's actually a pretty smart thing to do. A lot of people just go into Business so they're guaranteed a job."

"I don't blame them, but yeah, I hate it when people go all 'Oh, are you gonna be a teacher?' or 'Liberal arts majors don't get as much pay' when I tell them my major. How about you, though? You said you were a History minor?"

"Yep, with a double major in Kinesiology and Criminal Justice."

I gave him an odd look, and he laughed.

"Odd combo, I know. Kinesiology's so I can help take care of my friend Noct and Criminal Justice to be more diplomatic when dealing with potential threats. As for History, though, I realized I really liked learning about the different wars that make civilizations thrive. That might sound barbaric when I word it like that, though. It's more…what drove people into this, what they thought at that time and what made them think that way. And more importantly, what we can learn nowadays to prevent that from happening in the future."

"Whoa, that's incredible."

"Fun fact, though, I was about to have an English minor just because I read too many novels. But then I realized History was more up my alley."

"You can double minor, as well. I was actually thinking of doing that with Theater and Film."

"Eh, too much on the pile already. But oh, Theater and Film? You plan on being an actor?"

"That was my plan at first, but my professors can be really stingy when it comes to acting. I think directing is more of my calling, or casting. If my History major can make me financially stable enough, I might actually go into it."

"I think you can pull it off. You seem capable enough."

As I blushed from the compliment, two girls walked up to Gladiolus with excited looks on their faces. Unlike me, they seemed to be very caring about their appearances. Straight hair on the both of them, one with blonde highlights, and despite the cold really fashionable clothing. Along with this, they both had sparkling eye shadow and thick eyelashes.

"Hey Gladio, can we take a selfie with you?" One of them asked.

"Sure, go ahead," he responded with a polite smile.

Ah, so this must be what Gina meant by him being a womanizer…

"C'mon," Gladiolus gestured to me.

"Really?" I questioned.

"Yeah, c'mon!" One of the girls smiled.

Originally, I only planned on doing an ugly face in the background, but this was a definite change of plans. I thought they'd be the stereotypical preps that would think I'm too ugly for taking a photo with them. Or they'd make ME take the photo.

…Wait, they could probably edit me out after this.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I felt Gladiolus wrap his arm around my shoulder and throughout a multi-shot, remove my hat so he could wear it.

"Thank you!" One of the girls squealed.

"Any time!" He waved them off. He removed my hat off his head and returned it to mine. That was the time the waitress came with our lunches.

Gladiolus tried to get me to eat part of his dish but being the picky eater I am, I politely declined his offer. He did steal some fries from me, though.

* * *

Usually when I go on museum excursions, I tend to go by exhibits rather quickly until I find something that interests me. That wasn't the case this time around, as Gladiolus silently observed every piece and I didn't want to leave him behind. So, I followed him around much like the library excursion.

No really interesting commentary was exchanged between us during this time, but it surprisingly didn't feel awkward. I could tell Gladiolus was actually interested in each piece, and that brought a small smile to my face. …Oh gosh, I hope he didn't notice.

I mouthed a "Wow" when I saw they were displaying Claude Monet's works. They always had a quiet tone to them that I really liked, and I liked how he mostly used soft greens and blues.

"Impressionist fan, are we?" Gladiolus smiled, walking back to where I was.

I nodded.

"It takes a lot of hard work to imitate life," I explained. "I know photography can do that for us nowadays, but there's something about Monet's color choices that always make me come back for more. Makes me wish I was a part of his vision of the world, y'know?"

"Yeah, I feel that."

"How about you? Which parts of art history do you like?"

"Neoclassical's the first thing that comes to mind, but that's because I see portraits and the like all over the Citadel. Romanticism, especially the scenery pieces."

"Oh, those are gorgeous."

"Right? And my buddies rip on me for liking it, but I appreciate surrealism from time to time. They say that you have to be on drugs in order to enjoy it. I don't care, though. I like how these artists can view the world like something we've never seen before and are able to capture their thoughts so vibrantly."

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

Before we headed out to the train museum, we went to check out the gift shop. Originally, I planned to buy small sketchbooks, but Gladiolus thought it would be neat for us to buy collection books of impressionism and romanticism. That way, we could exchange them and talk about the pieces we really liked. Thankfully, the books weren't too expensive.

* * *

Our voyage through the train museum brought up the memories of when I did a crappy diorama of the Nevada train heist and a timeline I illustrated with a train being the main body in the 8th grade. Gladiolus also said he'd take me on an authentic train experience because the last time I took a train (or the subway) was when my family vacationed in the East Coast back when I was 8. We also started quoting Blazing Saddles for whatever reason, after I told him that the Lone Ranger movie awakened my power of puns.

At the historic landmark, we took photos in front of old cannons and remarked how the imaginary old man Joseph would live his life in "them good ol' days". In the gift shop there, I bought Gladiolus a raccoon hat.

"To match my lumberjack one," I told him.

He breathed through his nose to give a half-assed laugh, but still wore it regardless.

After that, we decided to catch our breath and sit on a bench outside the art museum.

Looking at him again, I'm still shocked my friends accused him of being a womanizing dick. He's one of the most well-thought, well-spoken guys I've ever met. …Oh no, what if he's just putting this up as a façade?

"You okay?" Gladiolus asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry about that," I quickly spoke.

Gladiolus raised an eyebrow, letting me know that he wasn't buying it.

"Okay, you got me," I sighed. "A few days before this, I told my friends about today and they freaked out because they thought you were a jerk that flirted with any woman in sight. I of course don't think that about you but then the intrusive thoughts started… I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. I don't blame them."

"…You don't?"

"Well, the me being a jerk part, at least. I'm the prince's bodyguard, so I can't always put on a friendly face. Heck, I sometimes have to give Noct a hard time to make sure he's ready for whatever life throws at him in case I can't protect him. …And I do sometimes let my anger get to me, as much as I hate to admit. But it's not like I throw someone across the room just because they call me names or mix up my orders at restaurants. I just don't understand the atmosphere sometimes and I get frustrated at myself for not being able to.

"As for the flirting, well, I did do a lot of that in high school. Annoyed pretty much everyone that knew me personally, but that was my way of talking to girls back then. I sometimes fall back on that when I feel uncomfortable, but I've been working on improving my social skills to prevent that from happening. But guess how many girls I've actually gone out with?"

"Uh…20?"

Gladiolus laughed.

"2, 3 including you."

"GET OUTTA HERE!"

"No really, one back in middle school for a dance and one for 2 years in high school."

"Well, I'll be damned!"

My phone buzzed, and it was Gina sending me a pic of him with a younger looking girl in her school uniform. She captioned it _Dude she looks like you! He's creepy af!_

Of course she would stalk his profile.

Gladiolus peeked over my shoulder and laughed.

"Your friend trying to sabotage me again?"

"Unfortunately."

"Well, that picture is me taking my little sister to her first day of high school. Tell her to look up Iris Amicitia to prove me wrong."

I did as such, and after a few minutes she simply replied with an ellipsis along with _oh_.

"She means well, I swear," I said.

"Honestly, I've dealt with worse than her."

"I mean, considering you're a bodyguard and all, it makes sense."

* * *

I stood up, and Gladiolus followed.

"Either way, thanks for today. It's rare that I can geek out over History and stuff with someone."

"It was my pleasure. And hey, I can help you edit your research project before you turn it in."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, just let me know when you're done with your draft and I can look over it."

"Oh, that'd be so awesome of you! Thank you, Gladiolus!"

I gave him a hug and he returned it without squeezing the living daylights out of me.

"You can call me Gladio, you know. We're not business associates."

"Good to be polite, though." Gladio looked down at me, being the giant he was. "…Okay, I didn't know I could beforehand."

Gladio tipped my hunting hat over my eyes as a playful response.


End file.
